Joy Smith
Autism Society – Web site Review
Authority
It is very clear upon examination of this web site that it is owned and created by the Autism Society. This web site has a place for you to sign in as a family member, individual on the spectrum, professional, or advocate. The home page on this web site allows you to access stories, current news about Autism, action plans, an information section about Autism, and a place asking for donations. The web site provides information about ways to get involved with the Autism Society. The credentials of the author were not listed on the web site. Contact information was provided for those interested in joining the Autism Society. The contact information provided includes the snail-mail address, a local phone number accompanied by a toll-free number, and an email form, but no fax number is apparent. When linking to press releases or articles from the home page, the author of the article is listed as “Autism Society” with no information provided about individual authors. I was able to locate a press release with the website’s media specialist listed as author with her name, title, email, and phone number included. The site is obviously supported by the Autism Society and their donors. The site also has prevalent links to allow you to donate if you’d like to.
Purpose
The domain name of the site, (autism-society.org), clearly indicates the purpose of the site. The site is very well organized with links across the top to the different areas of the site. All the links are topical and appropriate. All information available on the site is intended for people who are interested in or affected by autism, or people who are involved in or donors of the Autism Society.
Coverage
The site does not claim to be comprehensive. The topics are not covered in depth, but are introduced as more of an overview. Compared to other websites about autism, autism-society.org is lacking and not as informative or in depth as it would need to be in order to compete. This site provides its own information when referencing itself, but tends to rely on links for relevant research or informative articles.
Currency
News dates are provided in the section entitled “What’s New.”A date was not given on the web site informing readers of the last date the website was updated. The web site was fully developed and operational. Multiple links were present on the web site and all links worked.
Objectivity
The information presented was informative and general. The information presented didn’t appear to be bias in any way. The web site does make it very easy to donate money. Every page has a box you can click on to donate money. The web site doesn’t try to sell anything or advertise products that are for sell.
Accuracy
The information seemed to be reliable and accurate. The website did follow grammar rules and was mostly error free. Over all I would say that this website is a good resource to visit if you are looking for general information on Autism. The website is user friendly and easy to excess. The website is also a good resource for locating headline news about topics related to Autism.